Awards, Announcements, and News

The Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) recently released the finalists for the 2012 Governor General’s Literary Awards. Twenty books were nominated between the Children’s Text and Children’s Illustration categories with five nominees each in English and French. Barbara Reid’s Picture a Tree appears in the children’s illustration (English) category and was previously reviewed in our pages here: http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/deakinreview/article/view/17101.

The CCA website also notes a new annual award named the Burt Award for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Literature. It consists of three prizes totaling $25,000 and a guaranteed purchase of at least 2500 copies for distribution across Canada. English literary works for young adults written or translated by First Nations, Métis or Inuit authors/translators are eligible. Applications are due May 1, 2013. We look forward to reviewing some of these titles in the future. (http://www.canadacouncil.ca/grants/Prizes/dw129905679931884714.htm).

An interesting website to explore is CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators, and Performers). Two sections of particular note relate to booking members for presentations/workshops and hosting the travelling art collection (CANSCAIP collection). The “school/library visits” section includes a searchable directory of members available to book: http://www.canscaip.org .

At the massive-scale end of the children’s literature spectrum, Scholastic has announced Infinity Ring as a “multi-platform time travel adventure series” that apparently creates a “fully immersive reading experience” incorporating books, an interactive map, and online game episodes. It will encompass seven books and game episodes where readers travel back in time to help fix “great breaks” in history created by a nefarious and mysterious group. Each book will be written by a different author starting and ending with James Dashner at roughly 3-4 month intervals stretching until 2014. A quick look at the website suggests this might be a project to explore during the coldest days of our upcoming winter (www.infinityring.com).

Finally, the winners of the seven children’s book awards from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (www.bookcentre.ca/award ) mentioned in the last Deakin Review (2:1) will be announced on November 21, 2012.

Happy winter reading (but don’t forget to get out and enjoy all the season has to offer).